Hi, I am booked on Celebrity Infinity sailing Sept 19, 2008, 14 night Vancouver to San Fran. The sailing before that is Seattle round trip. I just found out the ship will sail from Seattle to Vancouver on the 19th, but we will not be allowed to board until 8:00pm. Our flight arrives into Vancouver at noon....

Has anyone done this sailing, if so how did Celebrity handle the boarding?

If you booked your air through Celebrity they will no doubt have a "hospitality room" set up for you to pass the time until boarding. If you booked on your own, you could go straight to Canada Place, check your luggage, and knock around downtown Vancouver for six hours.

The city tour is a great idea. Like I said, if you land at noon, by the time you collect your luggage and get into downtown Vancouver it could be 2:00; a city tour and dinner could easily eat up the remainig six hours.

As for boarding at 8:00, it doesn't take too long for the ship to sail from Seattle to Vancouver; but it still has to be cleaned, prepared and provisioned for your cruise. I don't know if they will do that in Seattle or Vancouver; but either way, that is what accounts of the late boarding time.

I spoke with Celebrity today...they said our luggage will go directly from the airport to the ship-we do not claim it at the airport since we did our air thru Celebrity. They said all cruise pax into Vancouver have this done.

I think that's GREAT! That will make your stay in Vancouver so much easier. Just be sure you pack whatever you may need in your carry-on; in particular, your cruise documents, medications, a change of clothes, and all valuables. Since you booked the air through Celebrity, they will take care of everything for you. And the city tour is still a good idea. Hospitality rooms are a nice gesture, but they can be pretty boring if stuck there for 6-8 hours.

Originally posted by CRUISER2000:
Hi, I am booked on Celebrity Infinity sailing Sept 19, 2008, 14 night Vancouver to San Fran.
Has anyone done this sailing, if so how did Celebrity handle the boarding?

Thank you.....

14 days to go from Vancouver to San Fran. It appears as if they figured out a way to beat the fuel prices, just let the ship drift.